Never be the same again
by DahliaRose83
Summary: Alaric wakes up with a massive hangover, a vampire in his bed and no recollection of how he got there.


Never be the same again

Alaric opened his eyes slowly, groaning at the light and noise that assaulted his senses and made him close them again immediately. Fuck, how much had he drunk last night? His head was pounding and he felt vaguely sick. It had been quite a while since he'd had a real hangover. He had developed a pretty high tolerance for alcohol over the last few years.

So what the hell had he been doing last night? He tried to remember, but gave up when it made his head hurt even more. With another groan he buried deeper beneath the covers and that was when he noticed something else. Something that made him freeze. He wasn't alone. There was someone in bed with him. Oh Shit.

Again he did a frantic search through his memories of last night. Where had he gone? What had he been thinking, picking up someone? But again he came up blank. Tentatively he opened his eyes again and very slowly turned his head to look, praying that it would be a stranger. Yeah, fat chance in a town like Mystic Falls. So please at least not one of his students. Anything but that.

"Good morning, sunshine."

For a moment Alaric blinked stupidly at the lithe figure next to him. Okay, not one of his students. But that didn't do much to comfort him right now. Maybe this was actually worse. Because how the hell had he ended up in bed with Damon Salvatore?

"You look like shit." Damon informed him helpfully.

"Please tell me this is just a weird dream." Alaric whispered desperately.

The vampire grinned. "Nope, all real. Why, do you dream about me often? I'm flattered, Ric."

The teacher just continued to stare at him, trying to process what he was seeing. Damon Salvatore, lounging in bed next to him, wearing that familiar annoying smirk. And no shirt. This didn't bode well.

"How much did I drink last night?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Damon answered nonetheless.

"No idea. I wasn't counting. But it was quite a bit, even for your standards."

Which was probably a nice way of calling him an alcoholic. Ric mused that maybe he should quit drinking. Hell, he definitely should, if it made him end up in bed with a vampire.

"I'll make coffee." Damon decided after a couple of minutes of Alaric staring at him stupidly. He slipped out from beneath the covers and padded to the kitchenette. Morbid curiosity made the teacher look. Damon was wearing nothing but a pair of tight black boxer briefs. Lifting the covers to check, Ric found his fears confirmed. He was only wearing boxers as well. Waking up hung-over in bed nearly naked with a nearly naked vampire? This was so not good.

A few minutes later Damon came back to the bed and handed him some aspirin and a glass of water, before returning to the kitchenette to grab two mugs of coffee. Ric sat up and swallowed the pills, before accepting the mug. The vampire perched on the bed beside him, watching him with a curious expression. For a few minutes they sipped their coffee in silence. Alaric was slowly starting to feel a little better. Or well, at least a little less hung-over, which was still an improvement.

"What... err.. what exactly happened last night?" he finally dared to ask. Damon blinked at him.

"You don't remember?"

Now that he felt a bit more awake and his headache was receding, he tried again. This time with a little more success. His memory was coming back. At least bits of it. "We were at a party at the Lockwood's. Founders event." he mumbled. And why he always went to those he'd never understand. They were boring at best and completely unbearable at worst. Last night had been the latter. He suddenly remembered standing at the bar, draining one glass after another, while watching Jenna having fun with Mason Lockwood.

Lovely Jenna, who still pretty much refused to speak to him. Okay, so he had lied to her about a few things. He had lied about all the supernatural creatures around here and he had lied about his undead wife. He still felt justified in doing so. He had done it only to protect her. Didn't that count for anything? No, apparently it didn't. At least not in Jenna's opinion. Once she had found out, she had been furious. Alaric had tried to explain, but that had ended with her shouting and breaking up with him. Elena had tried her best to mediate, but Jenna wouldn't be swayed. She claimed that she could never trust Ric again and insisted that it was over for good. And as if to prove her point she had started dating Mason Lockwood three weeks ago.

"Yeah, you were trying to empty the bar on your own." Damon's voice cut through his musings.

"You weren't helping. You kept making those little comments. You thought it was hilarious that my wife left me to become a vampire and now my ex-girlfriend is fucking a werewolf." Alaric grumbled, remembering a few of the more nasty things Damon had said last night. About Isobel and Jenna both.

"Just stating the truth as it is. And you have to admit that it is quite funny." the vampire insisted.

"No, it's not. This is my life you're making fun of." the teacher muttered petulantly, finishing his coffee and getting up to refill his mug.

The caffeine helped to clear his head so he tried to remember more. He had been at the bar, watching Jenna with Mason and getting drunk. Damon had joined him, had said those hurtful things. He remembered bickering with the vampire. But then things got fuzzy.

"We left at some point." he mumbled, sitting down at the kitchen table instead of going back to bed. He was pretty sure of that, even if he couldn't remember it clearly. "We... headed to the Grill?" More an educated guess than a clear recollection.

"You insisted you needed another drink." Damon confirmed. Great, so he had probably gotten totally wasted and then...

"I can't remember." the teacher admitted after a moment. There was nothing and he wasn't sure if he should feel glad about it or not. He could already guess what had happened. "What... I mean, did we...?" he stammered.

Damon joined him at the table, raising a questioning eyebrow at his stammering. When Ric wouldn't meet his eyes and wouldn't say more he sighed and explained: "We didn't stay long. You were pretty wasted by then and the bartender didn't want to give you more bourbon. I dragged you out of there, before you could make a total ass of yourself. You asked me to come home with you and..."

"Yeah, you know what? I think I don't really want to hear more. I need a shower." Alaric interrupted the vampire. Setting the mug down he quickly headed to the bathroom. All of a sudden he didn't want to hear Damon tell him exactly what had happened. Maybe he should be glad that he couldn't remember. Might make it easier to forget that anything had happened at all.

When he emerged from the bathroom some time later, the vampire was sitting on the couch, fully dressed. "Feeling better?" he asked with a smirk.

"A bit. But... I'd like to get some more sleep. Could you leave now?" Alaric cringed at the strange look Damon gave him.

"You're kicking me out?"

Ric didn't dare to meet his eyes. What the hell was Damon expecting now? They'd had a drunken one-night-stand. Couldn't they just pretend it hadn't happened? "Look, I know that we... last night... well... Can we just forget about it?" he nearly pleaded. The vampire frowned. "Please. Just go and we'll never mention it again." the teacher continued.

Damon gave him a strange look. "Mention what never again?" he asked and Ric cringed. He didn't want to say it. Why did Damon have to be so difficult about this?

"You know what." he muttered through clenched teeth. The vampire was still staring at him. Suddenly his eyes widened dramatically. Drama-Queen.

"Ohh... Last night? But Ric, we..." he started, only to be interrupted by Alaric:

"No, please. I don't want to talk about it, okay? I can't deal with this right now. Just go, Damon. Please."

With a sigh the vampire finally complied. "Fine. I'll see you." He gave Alaric another strange look, before leaving quietly. Once the door had closed behind him, the teacher slumped down on the floor and hid his head in his hands. Yes, he should definitely quit drinking.

The next few days Alaric tried his best to avoid Damon, but the stupid vampire suddenly seemed to be stalking him. When Ric went to the Grill for dinner or to grade papers, Damon would show up only minutes later, act all surprised about seeing the teacher and then take a seat at his table without asking. When Ric decided to stay at school late and grade papers there, Damon would appear in his classroom and claim that he was bored, or that they needed to discuss the werewolf-problem (no problem there, aside from the fact that one of them had snatched Ric's ex-girlfriend away) or some other stupid excuse. Once he actually showed up to parent-teacher conference and started ranting about Stefan. And when Ric tried to lock himself up in his apartment, Damon would show up on his doorstep and threaten to make a scene in front of the neighbors if Ric didn't let him in. There was just no escaping him.

Another thing that worried Ric was that he suddenly viewed Damon differently. Okay, he'd always noticed that the vampire was good-looking. How could he not? He was only a man after all and he had always been attracted to other men as well as women. But now when Damon crossed the room, Alaric couldn't help but watch and admire his graceful movements. He couldn't help but wonder if Damon always moved with that much grace. When he looked at Damon he couldn't help but notice just how blue those eyes were or how expressive his face was. And he also noticed that Damon was flirting with him even more than usual.

Because Damon was always flirting. With pretty much anything that moved. That just seemed to be his nature and Ric had never thought much of it. He may even have flirted back sometimes. But now it seemed to him like their flirting and bantering had lost its playfulness. Like Damon was suddenly more serious about it. And more obvious. Ric had no idea what to make of it.

They hadn't talked about that night again. To the teacher it seemed like they were both carefully avoiding the subject. Which was again strange. Because Damon clearly hadn't wanted to drop it and it just wasn't like him to keep his mouth shut just because Ric asked him to. Usually he would drop hints and innuendos every chance he got, trying to rile Alaric up until he gave in. But this time he didn't. Not the slightest mention of founders events, hangovers or one-night-stands. It was a little unnerving and Ric really started to wonder what the vampire was playing at.

On Saturday Ric had lunch at the Grill and wasn't surprised when Damon joined him.

"Let me buy you a drink." the vampire offered.

Alaric gave him a dark look. "It's too early and you know that I'm trying to cut it down." he reminded.

Yes, Damon did know. He'd been making fun of him the whole week, finding the idea of Ric drinking less totally hilarious. He'd even mentioned taking bets on how long the teacher's resolve would last.

Without another word Damon got up and went to the bar. Ric sighed in annoyance. He would not give in. If the stupid vampire returned with two glasses of bourbon, Ric would make him drink both of them alone. No drinks before sundown and even then no more than two. That was what he had decided on. He hadn't thought it would be quite so hard to follow through, but as of yet he was holding up pretty well. Despite Damon's continued efforts to get him drunk. He was starting to wonder if it was just the vampire's obnoxious nature or if he had some ulterior motive.

Strangely enough Damon returned empty-handed. Alaric was about to comment when Matt appeared, giving them a weird look and setting two milkshakes down in front of them.

"You bought me a milkshake?" the teacher asked in surprise.

Damon grinned. "Well, you're trying to cut it down, right? So I'm being a good friend by getting you something non-alcoholic." he reasoned.

Alaric didn't have a reply. And he couldn't help but wonder if it was only his imagination or if Damon had put special emphasis on the word friend, giving it a wholly different meaning. Nah, he was just being paranoid. Right?

He shrugged it off and tried to concentrate on his food, but that proved rather difficult. Damon picking fries off his plate he could ignore. The vampire did it often enough and he had learned to just accept it, no matter how much it used to annoy him at first. Telling Damon to stop doing something usually only made him do it more. When the food-stealing failed to get a response from Ric he switched to a different tactic and started slurping his milkshake instead. And that did manage to get a reaction from the teacher, who suddenly couldn't draw his eyes away from the sight. He swallowed hard, shifting slightly as a certain part of his anatomy suddenly took an interest. Seeing Damon's lips wrapped around that straw, his adams apple bobbing as he swallowed... Ric was pretty sure he'd never get that image out of his head. And how the hell could anyone look like the incarnation of sin just by drinking a fucking milkshake?

With some difficulty he finally ripped his gaze away and tried to focus on his fries, instead of imagining that mouth wrapped around something else or wondering if maybe he'd actually felt that mouth wrapped around something else that fateful night. When he glanced up again, Damon was licking his lips. Another seemingly innocent gesture that went straight to Ric's cock. And judging by the smirk Damon knew exactly how much he was affecting the teacher. Damn vampire senses.

"So... what are we doing today?" the vampire asked, continuing to fiddle with the straw of his milkshake.

It took a moment for Alaric to find his voice, but he was glad that it came out normal at least, when he replied: "We? No idea what you're doing, but I was planning a quiet day. I need to prepare my lessons for next week and do some laundry. Probably gonna watch TV after that."

Damon pouted. "You're not actually expecting me to watch you preparing lessons and washing your dirty socks?"

"I told you what my plans are. Never said you were invited." Ric shot back, rolling his eyes.

"Your plans are boring. Let's do something else instead. Let's go out." Damon decided.

"I'm not going out with you. I told you, I was cutting back on drinking." the teacher reminded again.

"I didn't say anything about alcohol, did I? There are other fun things we could be doing. Things that don't necessarily require alcohol."

Alaric shook his head at the innuendo, even as he shifted again. A certain part of him was all for doing "things" with Damon, but he wasn't about to let the vampire know.

"I said no, Damon."

"Come on, Ric. It's Saturday. Don't make me stay home. Stefan and Elena will be there, acting all lovey-dovey. I don't want to watch that." Damon whined.

"Then go and annoy someone else." Ric suggested, trying to ignore how cute the vampire looked when he was pouting. He was determined not to fall for that little act.

But Damon was persistent. "But you're my best friend." he insisted.

"I'm your only friend." Ric corrected.

The vampire shrugged it off. Then suddenly his face lit up. "Hey, I know. Let's drive to Richmond. We could visit the American Civil War Center and look at some of that historical crap you're so fond of." he suggested. And suddenly Alaric was tempted. He hadn't managed to visit the center so far and he really wanted to see their latest exhibition. Of course Damon sensed it. "I'll compel us a private tour. And I promise not to eat the other visitors, even if they annoy me."

With a sigh the teacher gave in. "Okay, fine. I'll drive."

Damon's grin seemed to light up the whole room. "Great. Let's go."

Alaric had only taken a few road-trips with Damon so far. They had all turned out more or less disastrous. This one strangely enough turned out really nice. Of course Ric stopped Damon from compelling them a private tour. Instead they walked around the exhibition on their own, while the vampire pointed out different things and even told him a bit about fighting in the war. Later they had dinner at a nice Indian restaurant. It felt strangely like a date, but they laughed a lot and had fun, so Ric tried to push the feeling aside. When he dropped Damon off at the boarding house it was close to midnight. For a moment the vampire looked like he wanted to invite him in, but then he obviously thought better of it and merely bade him goodnight.

On Sunday the teacher finally managed to get his lesson plans and laundry done, before ending up at the Grill again. He played a few rounds of pool with Damon and later they had two drinks each, before going their separate ways.

The next week was pretty much the same. There was no day Alaric didn't see Damon at least once, but this time he didn't mind. They laughed and bantered like always, had a few drinks (still almost within Ric's newly set limit - two or four, not much difference there, right?) and on Thursday they went to a rundown motel just off the highway to stake a vampire who had strayed dangerously close to Mystic Falls and nearly killed one of Ric's students the night before. The killing went smoothly and they celebrated with a couple of drinks at the boarding house later, while sheriff Forbes and her deputies got rid of the body.

Saturday brought yet another founders event and this time Ric actually considered not going. At least until Damon showed up and kept pouting. "You can't make me go all alone. I'll get bored to death. I need you there." the vampire reasoned. Of course he was exaggerating, but Ric kinda liked the thought of Damon needing him, so in the end he gave in and accompanied the vampire.

At least the event wasn't being held at the Lockwood Mansion this time. It was some sort of fair, so Carol Lockwood had chosen the town centre as location. There were market stands offering food, sweets and drinks, a carousel for the kids, a flea market, a raffle and even a stage with live music. Aside from the noise and the many people Alaric had to admit that it was not so bad. And the town centre was big enough to avoid Jenna and Mason, which was a definite plus. Ric was starting to accept the break-up and move on, but that didn't mean he wanted to watch his ex flaunting her new boyfriend.

He and Damon strolled around for a while, making small-talk with boring council members and Ric's equally boring colleagues, before taking a seat in front of the Grill, from where they watched the people passing by. Damon gleefully pointed out that Stefan was following Elena, Bonnie and Caroline around like a lost puppy. The teacher couldn't quite disagree. "I think your brother needs more male friends." he suggested. Did Stefan even have male friends? Jeremy maybe or Matt. Did they count? "He always preferred to hang out with girls. I think it's because they're less likely to make fun of his brooding and diary-writing and stuff." the vampire informed him. Alaric chose not to comment on that.

It was some time later, when it had long since gotten dark and Damon and Ric had switched coffee for bourbon, that Ric spied Jenna and Mason walking towards the Grill. Mason had his arm wrapped around Jenna's shoulders and she was giggling at something he said. She stopped abruptly when she saw the teacher.

"Careful Jenna. I don't think dogs are allowed in the Grill." Damon warned.

Jenna shot him a dark look and spat: "How very funny, Salvatore.", before pulling her boyfriend through the door, pointedly ignoring Alaric, who chuckled at the vampire's joke.

"You're impossible."

Damon grinned at him. "All part of my charm." he claimed, giving him a searching look when Jenna and Mason returned only minutes later and sat down at a table nearby. "You okay? Or do you want to leave?"

"No, I'm fine." Ric assured and was surprised to discover that it was true. Seeing Jenna with Mason didn't pain him anymore. He was actually over her. When had that happened? "Maybe you were right. Jenna and I would've never worked out anyways." he admitted after a few moments of silence.

"Finally you see it. And of course I was right. I'm always right." Damon claimed, making him chuckle again. "And so very modest." he joked, noting once again how beautiful Damon looked when he was smiling. Really smiling and not smirking or simply looking smug.

"Like I said, all part of my charm." the vampire replied.

They ordered another round of drinks and continued their bantering, while the seats around them slowly filled with people and the noise-level rose. "It's getting too crowded here. Why don't we move this to the boarding house?" Damon finally suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go." Ric agreed readily, happy to get away from the noise.

At the boarding house Damon lit a fire and they settled down in front of the fireplace with fresh drinks. For long moments they didn't talk, but only watched the flickering flames. Ric felt a strange sort of anticipation and couldn't help but wonder how long they had been heading this way. He wasn't surprised when Damon finally moved closer and he couldn't really tell who leaned in first.

Kissing Damon was even better than he'd ever imagined. (Okay, so he had spent quite some time fantasizing about kissing his best friend. Sue him.) The vampire's lips felt soft against his and he was surprisingly passive at first. But when Ric sighed and opened his mouth, he took advantage immediately, thrusting his tongue inside. His hands were starting to roam, slipping beneath the teacher's shirt to caress the skin of his broad back. Ric retaliated by sliding his hands over Damon's sides, tickling his ribs through the dark shirt.

Both were breathing hard when they broke the kiss. "Upstairs." Damon gasped. Ric only nodded and allowed the vampire to drag him up. It was the first time he'd ever set foot in Damon's bedroom and he took a second to look around, admiring the dark furniture, the bookshelves, the huge bed. When his gaze settled on the vampire again, Damon had already kicked of his shoes and was just unbuttoning his shirt. Alaric took the hint and started undressing as well, sneaking glances at Damon all the while, watching that perfect pale skin being revealed.

He had barely stepped out of his boxers when Damon pushed him down on the bed, straddling his waist and leaning in for another kiss. Ric let his hands trail over the vampire's back, down to his ass, cupping his buttocks and pulling him closer. Both moaned into the kiss as their erections rubbed against each other. Damon didn't need much encouragement to start moving, rubbing against Ric, allowing the teacher's hands to guide his rhythm. He broke the kiss, let his lips drift over Ric's jaw, to the sensitive spot behind his ear, before nuzzling into his neck. The teacher shivered, remembering those sharp fangs, but Damon didn't bite and when he lifted his head again his eyes were still blue and there was no trace of dark capillaries beneath them.

"Gonna need..." Ric muttered, hoping he wasn't thinking too far ahead, but Damon only nodded. Then he was gone and back in a flash, dropping a small tube into the teacher's hands. Alaric rolled them over, so Damon was beneath him. He nipped and licked at the vampire's throat, while pressing a slick finger into him. Damon groaned and arched into the touch. Ric let his lips drift lower, over the collarbone, teasing a nipple with his tongue, while he opened Damon up.

"Ric! Enough..." the vampire finally gasped out and he was only too happy to comply, pulling back his fingers, replacing them with his aching cock only moments later, not stopping until he was fully sheathed.

He gave them both a moment to adjust, before he started moving. Damon was arching up against him, his legs wrapped around Ric's waist, matching his rhythm, little sounds of pleasure spilling from his lips. Ric leaned down to kiss him and for a moment he couldn't help but wonder why they had waited so long. Because Damon was perfect. So beautiful and wanton beneath him. This was perfect. But soon the pleasure erased all rational thought. He could only feel as the thrust into Damon over and over, until it was all too much and he came with a shout, mere seconds before Damon found his own release.

Totally spent Ric pulled out and collapsed onto the mattress next to Damon, trying to catch his breath. When their heartbeats had slowly returned to normal, Damon moved closer, cuddling against him. Ric grinned and wrapped his arms around the vampire. He should've guessed Damon would be a cuddler.

For long minutes they just laid like this, basking in the afterglow. Damon finally broke the silence. "What are you thinking about? I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head."

The teacher chuckled lightly. "Just wishing I could remember the first time we did this." he admitted after a moment.

Damon pulled out of his arms then and sat up. "You can."

Ric gave him a puzzled look, sitting up against the headboard as well. "No, I can't. My memories of that night never came back. The last thing I know is that we went to the Grill. And even that is fuzzy."

"Yeah, that night... Well, doesn't matter. Nothing important happened after we went to the Grill anyways." Damon claimed. Ric blinked at him in shock.

"Nothing important? But... we had sex."

A strange look crossed the vampire's features. "No, we didn't. We never had sex before tonight. We didn't even kiss. So you can remember our first time." he replied after a moment.

Alaric took a moment to process this, completely taken aback by the vampire's words. So they hadn't...? "But... but you were in my bed. And we were naked. Well, almost naked." he stammered.

The vampire hesitated, but then he sighed and started explaining: "You were drunk. I brought you home. You started stripping off your clothes, stumbling all over the place. I was afraid you'd end up breaking your neck, so I helped you into bed. And then... you grabbed my wrist. Asked me to stay. Said you didn't want to be alone. So I stayed. We slept. That's it."

Ric blinked at him stupidly. "Just sleep? But... no clothes... And you were in my bed." he protested again. Damon rolled his eyes. "Like I said, you stripped. And I wasn't about to sleep in my clothes. Or on your lumpy old couch. That thing is fucking uncomfortable."

"Oh. Okay. But why didn't you tell me?" Ric wanted to know, when the meaning of the words had sunk in. "You didn't let me. You said you didn't really want to hear it and then you kicked me out. Which was pretty mean, by the way."

Okay, he had done just that. But... "What about the next few days? We saw each other every day. Why didn't you tell me then? You let me think we'd had a drunken one-night-stand the whole time. Did you think it was funny?"

Suddenly Damon wouldn't meet the teacher's eyes. "At first I found it kinda funny. And then... I thought if you believed we already had sex you'd be more likely to really sleep with me." he admitted a little sheepishly. "And see, I was right." he added then, still not looking at Ric.

"You let me think we'd had sex so I'll sleep with you?" the teacher repeated incredulously.

Finally Damon met his eyes again. "I've been flirting with you for ages, but you never noticed. You only kept whining about Isobel and Jenna and you never fucking noticed me." he spat, looking hurt.

Alaric's eyes widened in surprise. Why the hell had he never seen it? "You have feelings for me." he said in wonder.

"What? I ... I never said that." Damon protested, a panicked look crossing his features.

Damon Salvatore - insecure. And he was the cause of it. Ric couldn't believe it. The vampire was pouting now, crossing his arms and trying to look offended, instead of scared. With a start the teacher realized that Damon was expecting to get shot down. Damon was expecting Ric to hurt him.

"I know I can be slow and really dense. But if you want to date me..." he started cautiously. The vampire looked at him in alarm, but Ric continued: "If you want to date me, I'd like that."

Now it was Damon's turn to blink stupidly. "You want a date? With me?" he checked.

"Actually I was thinking of more than one, but yeah. I want a date. With you." Ric confirmed.

For long minutes the vampire just stared at him, as if trying to find out if he was serious. Then slowly a smile spread over his face. "Alright. You'll get your date. But I'll decide where we're going. I shudder to imagine what you'd pick." And just like that obnoxious Damon was back, but Alaric didn't really mind. He liked that idiot just the way he was.

"Of course you'll decide. And now come here. I'm tired." He slipped under the covers and smiled when Damon cuddled into his arms only seconds later.

Maybe he had lost his mind now, dating Damon Salvatore. But lying here with him felt strangely right. And dating really couldn't be all that different from what they'd been doing for months now, could it?


End file.
